ble coming. I will bid you good-day."

He turned on his heels, lighting the cigar he had bought and looking
quite unconcerned. Sophy hastened around the counter and intercepted
him at the door, following him out. She touched his arm.

"Do--do they suspect any one?" she asked.

"I think I may have spoken too much, Miss McGurn," answered the
doctor, with a face that had suddenly become exceedingly stern.
"It is not for me to answer your question. Of course, it's in my
power to tell the sheriff that there is no longer any suspicion that
the shooting was otherwise than accidental, and I could perhaps
also persuade Miss Nelson not to follow this matter of the letters
any further. I think that she would follow my advice in the
matter. But I have no intention of interfering until--until I know
everything--down--to--the--last--word!"

He accentuated this by striking with his fist into an open hand,
slowly, as if driving in a rebellious spike. They were alone on the
little veranda of the store. Within her breast the girl's heart was
throbbing with fear--with the terror of exposure and unknown
punishments. She felt that this man knew the exact truth and she had
the sensation of some animal cornered and seeing but a single avenue
of escape.

"But I have found out everything I wanted to know, Miss McGurn," Dr.
Starr told her, suddenly. "Unless I have a written confession in my hands
I shall let matters take their course. It--is--for--you--to--choose."

He looked at his watch.

"My train should be here in fifteen minutes," he told her. "After that
it will be too late!"

Then the girl broke down. Wild thoughts had come and gone. If a weapon
had been at hand she might, in obedience to the behest of a wild and
fiery nature, have stabbed the man who so calmly faced her. But she
felt utterly helpless and her fear and despair became supreme.

"I--I'll write whatever you want me to, if--if you promise not to
tell!" she cried.

"I'm not quite prepared to accept conditions," he answered. "I intend
to show the paper to Ennis and to Miss Nelson. They have a right to
know the truth. But I can promise that they will carry the matter no
farther, and that I shall see that neither the sheriff nor the
post-office authorities will interfere. There are but a few minutes
left now."

She rushed into the store again and went to the desk. Her father was
no longer in the room. With feverish speed she wrote while the doctor
bent over her, sug